It is well known in the turf care industry that the health of the turf can be enhanced by periodically aerating the turf. Aerating the turf involves punching an array of spaced holes into the ground over the area of the turf that is to be aerated. Such aeration holes relieve soil compaction and facilitate the entry of air and water into the turf. This has a beneficial effect on the turf and leads to healthier, more vigorous turf.
Various aerators have been developed for aerating turf areas. One aerator uses a vertically reciprocal array of tines that first punch down into the ground and then are lifted up out of the ground to form the aeration holes as the aerator moves over the turf area. The tines are arranged in groups on different tine holders and are reciprocated up and down out of phase with one another. U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,561,282 and 7,096,969, both owned by The Toro Company, the assignee of this application, disclose aerators with vertically reciprocal tine arrays. Toro also makes and sells aerators of this type as in its ProCore 648 aerator among others.
In aerators of this type, the tine holders that carry the tines usually comprise a pair of parts that are clamped together by bolts. Each part of the tine holder has a semi-cylindrical groove that forms one half of a cylindrical bore that will hold an upper end of one of the tines. In installing tines in such a tine holder, the two parts of the holder are separated from one another, the upper ends of the tines are then laid into the semi-cylindrical grooves in a first part of the tine holder, the second part of the tine holder is then overlaid onto the first part with the semi-cylindrical grooves in the second part overlying the other half of the upper ends of the tines, and then the two parts are rigidly bolted together. The tines are tightly clamped within the bores formed by the two parts when the two parts of the tine holder are bolted together.
While effective, this type of tine holder can be difficult and time consuming to take apart in the event one or more tines need to be replaced. It is often the case that only one tine in the group of tines held by the tine holder might be bent or broken or unduly worn, thus requiring replacement, while the other tines are fine. Nonetheless, the entire tine holder must still be disassembled, the tine that needs to be removed must be taken out and replaced with a new tine, and then the entire tine holder must be reassembled. When the tine holder is disassembled, the other tines can easily fall out of the tine holder, thus requiring that they be picked up and reinserted. All of this is made more difficult since the tine holder is often caked or covered with dirt or soil.
Accordingly, there is a need in the aerator art for a tine holder that permits quick and easy replacement of the tines on an individual tine-by-tine basis, yet securely holds the tines during use of the aerator.